You and I
by Brave-little-duck
Summary: It's been a long time since I last saw you, and now I'm not leaving without you.


**This is my first one-shot in a while. It's also my first love story! I'm sorry for lack of updates and what not lately! I hope you guys like this!**

* * *

_A six year old Kendall Knight and Samantha Jackson were swinging on the young males swing set in his backyard. The two were the best of friends and practically inseparable. They'd been neighbors since birth and didn't know anything other than being together 24/7. _

"_Higher, Sammy, higher!" Kendall called._

"_I'm not strong enough, my arms are tired." She huffed angrily._

"_Fine." He said jumping off. "Then you get on and I'll push you."_

_The two traded spots and Sam let Kendall give her pushes from behind to keep her going._

"_Kendall!" Mrs. Knight called from the back door. "James and Carlos are here, come inside."_

"_Okay! Just a sec momma!" He started to run inside. Once he got tho the door he realized that his partner in crime wasn't behind him. "C'mon Sammy, what are you waiting for? Let's go play with Carlos and James!"_

"_But what if they don't like me?"_

_James and Carlos went to kindergarten with Kendall. Sam wasn't in school yet because of the age cut off. That meant that she had to wait until 3:30 almost every afternoon to play with Kendall. Now she didn't like the thought of having to share her best friend with two yucky boys._

"_Of course they'll like you! You're Sam! C'mon it'll be fun." He said holding his hand out to her. She took it carefully and ran inside with Kendall, her brown curly hair flying behind her._

_Once they got inside, they ran upstairs to the play room where James and Carlos had already started playing with Kendall's toys._

"_Carlos look he finally came!" James exclaimed. "Who's that, does sh have cooties? 'Cause my big brother told me that girls have cooties."_

"_No silly." Kendall replied. "This is Sam, she lives across the street and she doesn't have cooties."_

"_How do you know she doesn't have cooties?" Carlos asked._

"_Cause I can do this," Kendall lifted Sam's hand and gave it a quick kiss. "See, no cooties!"_

"_Oh... okay, can we play now?" James asked. Kendall said yes and off they went. The four of them played the whole afternoon and became good friends. And Sam told herself that maybe sharing Kendall wouldn't be so bad after all._

* * *

Those were the days. We didn't have to worry about anything and our biggest decision was what pajamas we were going to wear to bed. Now I'm twenty one and constantly worrying about paying tuition and the rising price of gas. Which if I don't stop for soon, I'll break down on the side of the road.

I pulled into an old gas station just outside of Crosby, the town in Minnesota where I grew up. I walked into the small store to pay when I saw a young boy and his dad. It reminded me of Kendall and his dad. Or what could have been the two of them.

* * *

_Now eight years old,Sam came home from school one day to see a lot of cars parked around Kendall's house. He hadn't been at school, so she thought he was sick, or maybe even baby Katie. But this looked like too many people for just one person to be sick. Instead of going inside to her house she went straight to Kendall's. She was met at the front door by a red eyed Mrs. Knight._

"_Hi there miss Sam, what can I do for you?" She sniffled._

"_Is Kendall home, why are you crying? Did something happen?" the young girl asked._

_Mrs. Knight got down on her knees in front of Sam. "Sweetie, Kendall's daddy died last night."_

"_What?" Sam knew that Kendall didn't get to see his dad much. His parents had gotten a divorce earlier in the year and he was still getting used it._

"_He was driving in the rain last night and he didn't see the car coming towards him. It was just one big accident."_

"_Oh," Sam said, her voice still shaky. "Well can I still go see Kendall?"_

"_Of course baby doll I'm sure he'd like that." The older woman said giving Sam a hug before she ran inside the house. She ran upstairs to the top of the four story house where Kendall's room was. Sam got to the room to find it to be locked. She sighed and pulled the bobby pin out of her hair that was holding her hair away from her face. Sam bent the piece of metal just like Kendall had showed her and picked the lock on the door with ease. She opened the door to see a heap of something under neath the blankets on Kendall's bed. She walked over and pulled back the comforter just enough for her to crawl in._

"_My Daddy's gone Sammy." Kendall said to his best friend._

"_I know," she said grabbing onto his hand. "But you still got me." That day, Sam promised herself that she would never leave Kendall's side._

* * *

That was the year that Logan moved to town, and our foursome of friends quickly became five. We welcome the nerd with open arms, and many... many pranks.

I looked up just as I passed the sign welcoming everyone into to town. I hadn't been here since last august when I left for my junior year at college. Now with it being a week before the fourth of July, everything looked different. The fourth of July was a big deal around here, but no one really knew why.

Everything was decorated with red white and blue. Signs in the windows of stores saying things like, 'Half of all smokes bombs.' or even 'Free case of fire crackers with a purchase of fireworks. It felt like home. I hated myself a little bit for not coming home in so long. But I felt like there weren't any other options.

I pulled into the parking lot of my old local pool. Even on a cloudy day like today, everybody who was anybody could be found here. Kids were running around screaming and splashing each other. I had so many good memories from this place. But there was one in particular I didn't like to think about.

* * *

_It was hot that day, extremely hot for Minnesota. All five of us had agreed to meet at the pool. Of course being late as usual, Logan was the last one to show up. Once he got there we played our favorite game, try and piss off the life guard. This pool had had the same life guard at it since we were eight, and every year he dreaded us coming back. That day, after a while, we had pissed him off enough that he'd left to calm himself down. _

_Being the gymnast that I was, __I decided that I would try and do a standing back flip into the pool. Not only would it show off how flexible I am, but it would show off my new body to the older boys at the pool. I'd just turned fourteen and thought I was hot stuff, or least I thought I looked good in a bikini.__So once I knew I'd gotten the older boys attention, I lined up to do my back flip. I had almost gotten the bottom half of me over when the edge of the pool met with the back of my head, sending me into the pool on my stomach.__I heard someone yell, "Sam no!" Just before I was completely submerged in water and began to lose consciousness._

_When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer under water, my head hurt like hell and Kendall had straddled my waist at some point and had one hand in my hair and the other was holding one of my hands. He was bent over and his face was mere inches away from mine.__"Sammy?" He said his voice cracking. I noticed how wet his eyes were in that moment. He was the only one who still called me Sammy, and even then he only did it when something was really wrong.__"Why are you crying?" I croaked.__"Oh thank god." He cried then sat me up enough to hug him. Not feeling strong enough to stand up by myself, he picked me up bridal style and sat me down in his lap. He held a towel to the back of my head, which I hadn't realized was bleeding. I rested my head on his shoulder.__I had to ask him what had happened because I couldn't remember. When I did he told me it didn't matter and that I should just take it easy. That night Kendall carried me home on his back just to make sure I got home okay._

_Once I got home, I called Carlos and made him tell me what had happened. He said that after I hadn't come up for air right away that Kendall jumped in after me and pulled me out. And when he couldn't get me to open my eyes, he began giving me mouth to mouth. He saved my life and he was too afraid to tell after wards. That day, I promised myself I'd make it up to him some how... one day._

* * *

It still makes me uncomfortable to think about. Not because it happened, but because of who was involved with it in that moment. I haven't seen, or really spoken to any of the guys in a while.

When Kendall first came to me and told me about Gustavo wanting to take him to California, his first question was 'You're going to come with us right?' Of course, being the boy crazed sixteen year old that I was, I agreed. I didn't dare tell him that came along because I couldn't bear to see my crush leave town and possibly get all big and famous and forget me.

Instead I told him that best friends always have each others backs, and that I wouldn't be able to have his very well if I was a thousand miles away, and vice versa. A few days later we we're all on our way to Los Angeles. It was fun, I got to hang out at the pool all the time, I made new friends. I even did a few commercials so I could attend school at the palm woods.

But after a while, I stopped feeling happy about everything. I wasn't happy doing commercials, I wasn't happy with where I was going in life and worst of all, I felt completely alone. Kendall had Jo, Carlos had Stephanie and the Jennifer's, Logan had Camille...sort of. Katie had her managing of whatever actor was willing to let her do it, and James could've gotten any guy or girl that he wanted. And I had no one, no one to hold or tell me they loved me every chance they got. I hated being lonely.

So I did the only thing that felt right, I packed my bags and went home. I told Mrs. Knight then called my parents to let them know I'd be home. What I wasn't expecting was for someone to try and stop me.

* * *

"_Where are you going?" A voice asked. 'Shit' I thought to myself. I had hoped to get away when no one else was in 2J so they wouldn't ask why I was leaving. Now I had one hand one the door knob and the other holding my duffel bag of things, being forced to explain myself. I turned around and was met with Kendall. Of all the people who lived in 2J, it had to be him who caught me._

"_Home." I said simply._

"_But we are home."_

"_No not here home... I mean back to Minnesota."_

_His smile faded. _"_What? No, why?"_

"_Because I just... I feel like I'm losing myself more and more the longer I stay here. I mean c'mon I'm drowning in my own freaking disappearance. I can't take it anymore I have to go home."_

"_No..." he whispered. "No you can't I won't let you. I won't let you leave."_

"_That's not your decision to make!" I screamed at him throwing my bag down. "I don't know if you've noticed, but we don't talk to each other anymore! We used to spend hours together talking about anything that we thought about. Now even on our days off we barely even say hello to each other. Do you how disappointing that is? To live in the same house with the person you call your best friend, and not talk to him."_

"_Yeah I do... but I wish I didn't. Look just please don't do this, I'm begging you please."_

"_It's too late, there's a cab-." I turned to leave but he stopped me._

"_I love you." he said. He would do this all the time. If he wanted you to do something for him and you refused he would tell you that he loved you. We had said it to each each other before... but this was different._

"_Kendall-."_

"_I love you I love you I love you." He said getting down on his knees in front of me. "Sam please I love you please don't leave me here. I can't do this without you please." his voice cracked at the end and that's when I lost it. Tears had begun and there was no way to stop them._

"_I know." I said quietly. "And I love you too. That's why I have to leave."_

_He wrapped his arms around my legs like a little boy who didn't want his mother to leave on the first day of school. He pressed his head into my stomach and I could feel him start to shake. In all the years I'd known him, I'd never seen him break down like this. I ran a shaky hand through his dirty blonde hair then pulled away from him._

"_I'm sorry." I said picking my bag up again. "But I have to go."_

"_Sammy." he said just as I shut the door in his face. I walked as fast as I could and didn't stop until I reached the cab to take me to the airport. That day, I knew I'd just broken the biggest promise I ever made. _

* * *

I wasn't able to even look at myself in the mirror for a long time after that. I felt absolutely awful for leaving him like I did, but staying and or going back wasn't an option.

Before I even realized what I was doing I had pulled into my old drive way. My parents still lived here of course, but I hadn't called it home since I left for College. This place was like a foreign country, I'd heard about it a million times but I still got lost when I go there.

Not knowing what else to do, I pulled out my phone and the called the only number I still remembered after all this time. Logan. And just like always he answered on the first ring.

"_Samantha Jay."_

"Logan Carter." Ever since he read the fault in our stars he does that to everyone, I don't know why, but he does.

"_I can't believe you still know to answer to that._" He said.

"Well I'm surprised you still use that as how you answer a phone."

"_Good point, so what do you need?_"

"What makes you think I need something?"

"_You never call me anymore unless you need advice, so what is it_?"

I sighed. He was right, I didn't talk to any of them unless I needed to talk to them about something. I hated using all of them like that, but I never what else to do.

"I was just wondering if you know if Kendall's in Minnesota this week."

"_Sam, you and I both know that he never misses a fourth of July display. Why do you care anyways? You haven't said a word to him since you left LA._"

"Because I may or may not be across the street from his house." I muttered into the phone.

"_What, are you serious?_"

"No Logan, I decided to watch the firework display from outer space this year." I said sarcastically. "Yes I'm being serious! Help me, I don't know what to do! I don't even know why I came back here."

"_Okay just calm down. Where are you right now?_"

"Sitting in my car, in my old driveway. Hoping no one notices that I'm here."

"_Hang on. I'll be there in five minutes._"

He hung up and I waited. Logan lived down the street and around the corner. I could see his backyard from mine if I climbed up the old oak tree. He could be here in two minutes if he walked but he always insisted on driving. Exactly seven minutes later he pulled into my driveway.

"I didn't say you had to come." I told him as he got out of his car.

"You didn't say I couldn't, now are you going to hug me or what?" He asked, holding his arms out. I walked over and hugged him back, breathing in the familiar smell, newly sharpened pencils and hair gel . I sighed and pulled away.

"Is there any particular reason you can't just go knock on the door and say hello? That's normally how a good conversation starts."

"It's not that simple." I muttered. "He probably hates me."

"You're kidding right? Kendall talks about you all the time. He asks me constantly if I'd heard from you, he misses you like crazy."

"I highly doubt that."

"Well why don't you ask him?" He asked. With that he got back in his car and drove away, leaving me to fend for myself.

With what little courage I had, I walked myself across the street to his house. Everything about it looked the same. Same shade of blue, same bushes in the front window, the old swing set was still sitting in the backyard. It's good to know that some things never change. I was about to step onto the front porch when the front door opened and Kendall came walking out.

He had on one of his signature beanies and a ridiculous tank top with a tiger on it. He has the craziest sense of style, but he's looks absolutely beautiful. He looked up after shutting the screen door and stopped. His smile fell and he looked sad. So much for a warm welcome.

"Hi." I said.

"Hey," He said quietly. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"It's the middle of Summer, where else would I be Cabo? I haven't been home for a while... and I needed to come back? What are you doing?"

"Logan texted me and said there was a pretty girl waiting outside for me."

"Of course he did." I huffed. "Remind me to kill him."

"To be completely honest I didn't think he meant you."

"Why not?"

"Because this is the first that I've known of your existence in three years."

"I tried calling you. I called you right after I got back to Minnesota. I called and Katie told me never to call or talk to you again because I broke you. I didn't try again after that. You could have called me."

"I wanted to but I didn't think you would answer." He whispered.

"Why would you think that?"

"Because you left... you left and you didn't even tell me about it before hand. I mean how could you? How could you just decide that you going to leave all of us without even talking to us about it first?"

"What was I supposed to do? Ask you if leaving was okay just so you could tell me I couldn't leave? It wasn't anybody's decision to make other than me."

"I'll be completely honest, it broke my heart to stand there and watch you leave. I wanted to stop you, but I could see it in your eyes that there was no changing your mind. You should go, someones probably-." I cut him off to stop him from leaving.

"You saved my life." He stopped dead in his tracks. "That day at the pool, right after I'd turned fourteen. I went to do a back flip off the side of the pool and ended hitting my head and falling into the pool. You pulled me out of the water and gave me mouth to mouth when I wouldn't open my eyes. You wouldn't tell me what happened after I woke up so I didn't ask you again. But that night I went home and I called Carlos and he told me everything. You saved my life and all these years you never told me. Why?"

"I didn't want to scare you, I just wanted to keep you safe and happy. Looks like I did kind of a shitty job huh?"

"Kendall-."

"You really want to know why I didn't call all these years Sam? Because I thought you hated me. I thought that the person I grew up with and knew _my entire life_ hated me."

"Hated you?" I exclaimed. "You actually thought that I hated you? Well guess what Kendall, it's the complete opposite! I had no one! Everyone else was to busy with having body special to care about. I couldn't stomach seeing you with Jo all the time, so I decided to go home. I was jealous of what the two of you had. I wanted a love like that. More importantly I wanted to be loved like that by you. I left because I wanted you and I couldn't have you. I loved you and you never noticed."

Holy shit did I just say all that?

"Did you just-."

"I think I did." I said cutting him off, three years since our last conversation and we were still finishing each others sentences. I guess some things really never change.

He looked like I felt, terrified. Just then I felt something wet drop onto arm, and then again on my bare leg moments later. A minute later, the both of us were caught outside in the middle of a rainstorm. But neither of us moved. If this isn't something out of a Nicolas Sparks novel, then I don't know what it is.

"Are you being serious?" he asked loudly over the pouring rain. "Did you really love me?"

I nodded. "Everyone has secrets, ones even there best friends don't know about. That was mine. I've known there was something there since the first time I saw you kiss Jo and felt mad, and I couldn't explain why. I'm sorry, I'll go home now."

I turned to leave and was suddenly being pulled by the arm the the porch and into the familiar home. He shut the door behind him then turned to look at me. He looked right at me with those sea green eyes and it felt like home again.

"What would you do... if I said I love you too?" He whispered taking a few steps closer to me.

"Something crazy." I replied, only mere inches from his face.

Within seconds, his lips had met mine. It felt like everything I'd been waiting years for. His arms wrapped around my waist and my hands went to his wet hair. A minute later we both pulled away and I rested my head against his. He smiled that smile I hadn't seen so long and laughed a little. I smiled back and rested my head on his his shoulder.

"So where does this leave us?" I whispered in his ear.

"_I'm a make you love me again." _He sang softly.

And I knew in that moment that I would never let him go again.


End file.
